Pantyhose Milk Tea

Right off the top of my head, I can't think of too many things less appealing sounding than pantyhose tea. But, as I mentioned in an earlier entry, it's not nearly as weird as it sounds.

Reuters recently wrote about this concoction, which is apparently quite popular in Hong Kong. As the article notes, it's "brewed in a long cotton 'sock' or filter resembling a beige pantyhose, rather than a female undergarment itself." Well, that's a relief.

Here's an old article about pantyhose tea, from South Africa's Independent Online.

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Welsh Tea, Swedish Tea

For your holiday weekend, here are a pair of brief bits with a somewhat international flair.

Welsh tea in Argentina? What's it all about? Apparently there's a significant Welsh population there who have a considerable teahouse culture. For more details, check out this article called Tasting Welsh tea in Argentina.

For more on "tea the Swedish way," check out Teas of Sweden, a California-based company run by a Swedish family that came to the United States 10 years ago. Apparently the Swedish way of tea has a lot to do with those blended fruity type teas.

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Specialty Teas Are Hot Stuff

If you've got a spare $3,000 lying around - and who doesn't - you might want to invest in Tea and Ready-to-Drink Tea in the U.S., a report prepared by a market research company called Packaged Facts. That's right, $3,000 for a report. Nice work, if you can get it.

According to the report, the tea market in the United States is expected to nearly double, to $15 billion, over the course of the next five years. The greatest amount of growth is expected to come from specialty tea. Tea houses, which numbered just 200 in 1990, have now passed the 2,000 mark.

While you're waiting for your $3,000 report to arrive, check out this summary at the Gourmet News Web site.

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More Tea And Cuisine

I've written about the tea/cuisine link often enough here at TGS that the site has an entire category devoted to the topic. Here are a few more resources for those of you who might want to try cooking with tea or who just have an interest in the subject.

From Malaysia's New Straits Times Online, here's an article called Waiter, There's Tea In My Soup. It's all about the Purple Cane Tea Restaurant, in Kuala Lumpur, where you can feast on such delights as Lotus Root Chicken Tea Soup and Aromatic Crispy Duck and Steamed Sliced Fish with Minced Pickled Vegetable in Tea Sauce.

The Boston Globe recently wrote about tea cuisine in an article that features recipes for Green Tea and Lemon Grass Filet Mignon, Chinese Tea Eggs and Earl Grey And Prune Applesauce. The latter delicacy doesn't sound terribly appealing to me but your mileage may vary.

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Boston Tea Party

What self-respecting tea Web site could let today pass without pointing out that it's the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party? Not this one.

For a brief overview of the events of and leading up to that December day in 1773 have a look at this Web page from the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum. They actually have one of the tea chests that was dumped in Boston harbor on that day of infamy, though you'll have to wait until their renovations are complete to get a gander at it.

For Wikipedia's take on things, look here.

Finally, here's an eyewitness account from The History Place.

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Celestial Seasonings Book Club

(from a press release)
Tea Drinkers Experience an Adventure at Every Turn With a Book Club by Celestial Seasonings

Celestial Seasonings introduces "Adventure at Every Turn," a Web-based book club designed to bring to life the company's new positioning, "Tantalizing Adventures for the Senses." Celestial Seasonings is partnering with Random House, Inc. to feature noteworthy books that take readers on global adventures without leaving home to emphasize the worldly nature of Celestial Seasonings teas and the adventurous spirit of the company.

"Adventure at Every Turn" book club members gain access to themed tea selections, recipes using Celestial Seasonings teas as an ingredient, and decor, music and activity tips inspired by the featured book and designed to engage each of the senses. Along with downloadable book discussion guides and e-mail invitations, these features enable members to organize and host memorable, thought-provoking book discussion events.

The book club features a new book published by Random House, Inc. every other month beginning in December, and the introductory book selection is The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson. Members will have access to content related to both the currently featured book and past selections at all times through the book club Web site.

To join, consumers are required to visit the Web site and submit UPC codes from two boxes of Celestial Seasonings tea. While quantities last, members will receive a book club starter kit designed to complement The End of the Alphabet. The kit features tea pairings and book club information, recipe cards and bookmarks to be shared with club members, and samples of Celestial Seasonings tea. The kit provides everything members need to host their first discussion group.

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Green Tea Muffins

From the Belleville News Democrat, here's a recipe for Green Tea Muffins. The "active" ingredient, in this case, is matcha, a powder made from Japanese green tea.

Click here for the recipe. Also included, Orange Blueberry Muffins and Lemon Cranberry Muffins.

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Tea Ball & Tea Thieves

Here a few miscellaneous tea-related items to close out your week.

I'm not much for tea balls, but this one's kind of on the nifty side. It's actually called the Sili Herb Ball, but apparently can be adapted for use with tea as well - if you're into that sort of thing.

What would anyone want with 7,000 packets of Tetley tea bags? Good question. To get the answer you'd have talk to the thieves who stole that quantity from a British warehouse recently. Not that they're likely to be fielding questions. Here's a brief article about said caper.

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Reasons To Keep Drinking Tea

When I first left off Tea, I was half asleep all Day long: My Head aked from Morning to Night: I could not remember a Question asked, even till I could return an Answer.

- from A Letter to a Friend, Concerning Tea, By John Wesley (1748) -

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Tea Blending

While working on a project recently, I ran across a few bits of info on tea blending. I thought I might as well share.

Here's a book from 1896, called Tea-blending as a Fine Art. It's by Joseph M. Walsh. Check it out at Google Books, where it appears that the entire work is accessible.

From the Tea Time World Wide site, here's an article called The Art of Blending Tea - Tips from a Master Blender, by Jennifer Geronaitis.

From the Blends For Friends site, here's an article on tea tasting and the art of tea blending.

If you know of other worthwhile resources, feel free to add them in the Comments section.

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